Residents Call for Algonquin Village President to Resign Over Bee Photo

ALGONQUIN, IL - A photo village board president John Schmitt posted of himself on his personal Facebook page has some now calling for his resignation. The photo, which Schmitt has referred to as self-deprecating, shows his head attached to a bee, the Northwest Herald reports. It was posted shortly after a federal judge halted construction of the controversial Longmeadow Parkway project due to the possible presence of an endangered bumblebee species.

Schmitt, who has long supported the road construction project that would include another bridge over the Fox River, has since deleted the Facebook picture.

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During a village board meeting on Tuesday night, Jack Bavaro said he was speaking on behalf of residents throughout the village when he asked Schmitt to step down, the Daily Herald reports. He said Schmitt's posting of the Facebook photo was unprofessional and showed the village president as mocking a serious environmental issue.

"The bee is critically endangered," Bavaro said. "Believe me, Mr. Schmitt, we are not laughing."

Schmitt did not speak up at the meeting but later told media outlets he has no plans of stepping down.

“There are some things that could be out there that would warrant a village president resigning, but having bad taste isn’t one of them,” Schmitt said.

Construction on the 5.6-mile, four-lane roadway, which will run from Huntley Road to Route 62 in Barrington Hills and would include a bridge over the Fox River, began on April 17 before a federal judge that same day granted a motion claiming the project should be put on hold until April 28 because the rusty patched bumblebee was found in the project area, according to the Northwest Herald. The thoroughfare passes through portions of the villages of Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills, as well as unincorporated areas of Kane County and has drawn concerns from groups, including the Stop Longmeadow Toll Bridge group, over potential environmental issues.

• Endangered Bumblebee Halts Construction on Longmeadow Parkway
  

These concerns continue to be raised even after the Federal Highway Administration determined earlier this year the Longmeadow Parkway project will have no significant impacts on the environment, which gave transportation officials the go ahead to move forward with the project.

• Longmeadow Parkway Will Have ‘No Significant Impact’ on Environment: Feds
  

Schmitt claims the use of pesticides, and not construction of the roadway, is what is hurting the rusty patched bumblebees, the Northwest Herald. He added that the Longmeadow Parkway, which is meant to ease congestion woes, would actually help the environment.

“This is a road project that is needed to help the environment so that we have less traffic sitting on the bridges polluting the river,” Schmitt said. “Longmeadow is not an anti-environmental project – it isn’t.”

More via the Daily Herald and Northwest Herald